We lost my grandmother almost two years ago, but I’ll probably never be able to stop thinking about what I could have done to make her last few years easier. She suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, so as time wore on she could no longer recognize us and barely had a full grasp on herself. The day I realized that she didn’t know my name or exactly who I was, but did know that I was someone she liked a lot and wanted to hug, my heart broke a little. But I never stopped wondering if there could be a touchstone that I could provide her with to bring her back from the brink of oblivion — a book? A photograph? An old Mahalia Jackson record? We tried some things, and a few made her perk up, but I guess I’ll never really know how much I could have further enhanced her golden years.

So when a friend passed me this video, which features a man in a nursing home becoming restored by listening to old Cab Calloway tunes, my heart was instantly warmed. Watch and think about it:

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if you care for elders!

This is amazingly beautiful! My father had Alzheimer’s and sang until the day he died. Baroque music was THE way to connect with him. When he was passing, one of the staff came to his bedside and said, “Hey Old Man, I want to thank you for your song!” So….the power of the music is not only for the individual but serves as a transformative vehicle for the nursing home or caregiving site creating a community of connection and even joy — even in these places of such desperate loss and despair!